The US Air Force will provide full military funeral honors for Ashli Babbit, an Air Force veteran and pro-Donald Trump rioter who was shot and killed on January 6, 2021 after breaching a sensitive area of the US Capitol, where members of Congress were evacuating.
A letter shared on social media, from August 15, showed Under Secretary of the Air Force Matthew Lohmeier writing to the family of Babbit, telling them that while their initial request for military honors was denied, “I am persuaded that the previous determination was incorrect.”
“[A]fter reviewing the circumstances of Ashli’s death, and considering the information that has come forward since then, I am persuaded that the previous determination was incorrect,” Lohmeier said. “Additionally, I would like to invite you and your family to meet me at the Pentagon to personally offer my condolences.”
A Department of the Air Force spokesperson confirmed the veracity of the letter.
“After reviewing the circumstances of [Senior Airman] Babbitt’s death, the Air Force has offered Military Funeral Honors to [Senior Airman] Babbitt’s family,” the spokesperson said on Thursday. While the specific details of what will be provided to Babbit’s family are unclear, full military honors typically include a uniformed detail at the funeral, the playing of Taps, and the folding and presentation of a US flag.
The honors had been previously denied under the Biden administration.
Babbit was shot by a Capitol Police officer while she was attempting to climb through a broken window inside the Capitol leading to the Speaker’s Lobby. The officer involved was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing related to the shooting.
In May, the Trump administration agreed to pay nearly $5 million to Babbit’s family in a wrongful death settlement.
Babbit spent four years on active duty from 2004 to 2008 and then served in the Air Force Reserves from 2008 to 2010, and the Air National Guard from 2010 to 2016. She deployed to Afghanistan in 2005, Iraq in 2006, and the United Arab Emirates in 2012 and 2014. She was a member of the 113th Security Forces Squadron, 113th Wing, DC Air National Guard. The 113thWing is charged with defending the National Capitol Region and is nicknamed the “Capital Guardians.”
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